


I Need You

by FanOfFandoms



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Post-Kahn, Post-Nero, Spoilers for first two movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 00:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7292272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanOfFandoms/pseuds/FanOfFandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Jim Kirk met little Joanna McCoy, he was terrified. *Starts after the 2009 movie, goes through Into Darkness and beyond*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

Jim really didn't know _what_ he'd been thinking. The _Enterprise_ had returned to Earth a fortnight after the Nero incident, with the necessary repairs being made to get them home safely and as fast as possible.

When they'd returned, everyone on the ship had been given a month of shore leave and were told that they had to attend a compulsory counselling session. Said session was the only thing Jim actually had planned for the next four weeks he had off, excluding the short meeting with a couple of the admirals during which he was told that he would be keeping command of the _Enterprise_ for the foreseeable future. That, and the big ceremony in which he officially relieved Pike of his position.

So when Bones asked him if he wanted to go back to Georgia with him to meet Joanna, Jim had said 'Sure! Why not?'.

But now, as he waited for Bones to meet him with the hovercar, he was kicking himself for his earlier carelessness. Because, Romulans, he could take. An angry Spock, he could deal with. Grumpy Bones... on a good day. But going to meet his best friend's six year old daughter?

That was another matter entirely.

* * *

"Jim, don't be such an infant," Bones grumbled as they approached Jocelyn's front door, "She is a six year old girl! What's the worst that can happen?!"

Jim glared at his friend, "I might accidentally corrupt her innocent mind and then you'll kill me?!" he offered.

"You're being pathetic," Bones said firmly, "Besides, I've already told her that you're coming. Do you _really_ want to disappoint her?" Jim sighed.

"The things I do for you..." he muttered as Bones knocked. The doctor decided against telling his friend that it was _his_ decision to come along; it would only give Jim an excuse to make a break for it as soon as the door started opening.

Jocelyn smiled as she opened the door; during his time at the academy, Bones had made a real effort to sort things out between him and his ex-wife (which involved him being the bigger person and not pointing out that it was really Jocelyn who was being unfair). They now had a grudging truce that wasn't quite a friendship but didn't make them enemies, per se.

"It's good to see you again, Leonard," she said before turning to Jim, "And you must be-"

"Uncle Jim!" Jocelyn was interrupted by Joanna's excited squeal, and Jim was caught completely offguard by the six year old her ran into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Woah," Jim chuckled, "Hey, Joanna." The little girl looked up at him, a bright smile on her face.

"What, daddy doesn't get a hug too?" Bones asked, acting hurt. Joanna immediately released Jim and threw herself at her father, who scooped her up effortlessly into his arms, "It's good to see you too, baby girl," he said as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Did you stop the bad people, daddy?" she asked, "Mommy said when it was on TV that the bad guys were trying to destroy Earth, but you were up their stopping them. Is that true?"

"I was helping," he corrected her, "Jim played the hero. But shhh," he said, looking around conspiratorially, "Don't tell him I said that. He'll get a big head."

"Wow, thanks, Bones," Jim laughed, "And if you didn't want to me to get such a _big head_ then you shouldn't have smuggled me on board in the first place!" Joanna gasped.

"You smuggled Uncle Jim onto the _Enterprise_?!" she asked, completely scandalised, "Daddy! That's against the rules!"

"I know, I know, Jo," Bones said, "I'm sorry." Joanna nodded, a look on her face that clearly said 'you should be'. Jim smiled at the scene; Bones was completely different around his little girl. The complete opposite of his usual, grumpy self. Joanna squirmed in her father's arms and Bones placed her down onto the floor. She immediately moved back to Jim and took his hand in hers.

"Play with me?" she asked quietly.

"What do you want to play?" Jim asked, crouching down so that she was a little bit taller than him.

Joanna shrugged, "What do _you_ want to play?" Jim considered for a moment; the last time he'd had to entertain any child was on Tarsus IV, and he was pretty sure Joanna didn't want to taught how to scale cliffs and hide from members of the army. Then he was struck by a stroke of pure genius (if he did say so himself).

"How about I tell you the story of how your dad smuggled me onto the _Enterprise_?" Joanna smiled widely, nodding enthusiastically at the idea. Jim grinned, "Lead the way." He said, and she pulled him into the house.

"Jim Kirk, if you corrupt my daughter I will hypo you into oblivion!" Bones called after him, trying his very hardest to sound menacing.

"And you said I was being pathetic!" accompanied with a chuckle was Jim's only response.

* * *

Joanna was having such a good time listening to Jim tell her stories of his and Bones' time at the academy and on the _Enterprise_ that Jocelyn suggested that Bones and Jim stay for dinner. The two men agreed immediately; it was hard to say no to Joanna when she was looking up at them with puppy-dog eyes.

After they'd eaten a meal of roast chicken with vegetables (something that Bones agreed was hard for Jim to be allergic to), Bones disappeared to read Joanna a bedtime story. He would come back to Georgia a few weeks later, just before he left on the _Enterprise_ , to see his daughter again. Jim felt slightly guilty for stealing Joanna away from him.

"Jim?" he was stood leaning on the kitchen counter, deep in thought, when Jocelyn's voice interrupted his concentration. He looked up and she smiled, "I just wanted to say thank you," she said.

"For what?" Jim asked.

"For keeping Joanna company," she shrugged, "There were a few things I had to sort out with Leonard, so she would have been a bit left out. You're her secondary hero, you know that?" Jim smiled slightly.

"I'm glad," he said, "If I'm honest... coming here today scared the crap out of me, right until she gave me that hug. It... Reminded me of the important things in life, you know?" Jocelyn nodded understandingly.

"Well, I'm grateful," she said, "And it's nice that she's got another person to look up to. I've been working a lot recently, so... she needs her Uncle Jim to think about. Leonard's great, but... he's her dad. One day she's going to need someone she can go to when he has to be the responsible parent." Jim just nodded, not saying anything, but inside he felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to Jocelyn, and, more importantly, to Joanna.

Because Jocelyn was right when she said that Joanna needed an uncle like Jim, related or not. But Jim needed her as well. She was his reason to come back to Earth, to not forget his roots and where he came from.

Bones joined Jim and Jocelyn in the kitchen and he smiled slightly, "Jo's asking for you," he told Jim who smiled back.

Making his way up the stairs, the house was quiet, the only the sounds being Bones and Jocelyn's conversation downstairs. Jim pushed the door to Joanna's room open quietly, and the little girl looked up sleepily, "Uncle Jim!" she smiled, before yawning widely.

"Hey, Jo," he replied, going to sit on the bed next to her, "You should be asleep."

"I wanted to say bye," she said, laying back down on her pillow, "Daddy said you're going on another adventure soon, so I won't see you for a long time." Jim smiled almost sadly.

"That's right, kiddo," he said quietly, "But I'll come back afterwards. We might even have to stop some more bad guys. Think of all the stories I'll have to tell you then!"

"You promise you'll come back?" she asked, her eyes wide, "Pinky promise?"

Jim wrapped his little finger around hers, "I pinky promise." Joanna smiled, her eyes fluttering shut before flickering open again.

"Do you think, one day, you could take me on your starship?" she asked. Jim grinned.

"Sure, kiddo," he told her, "One day, when you're a bit older. You'll love the _Enterprise_." Joanna smiled.

"I know," she said, shutting her eyes, "'Night, Uncle Jim."

"Night, Jo," he replied, leaving her room with a contented sigh. Looking in at the little girl lying fast asleep in bed, Jim really couldn't work out what he'd been scared of.


	2. Promises

Unfortunately for both Jim and Joanna, it really _was_ a long time before they saw each other again. Jim managed to go on three missions between the incident with Nero and the tragedy of Kahn, and the time between was never more than a fortnight, which usually involved filling in a lot of paperwork and catching up on some much-needed sleep.

Of course, they had video calls and Jim spent hours talking to her via PADD, telling her stories from his missions and listening to her talk about her friends from school and the things she got up to.

"I've decided that I want to be in Starfleet when I'm bigger," she said one day about six months after Nero. She said it was such confidence that Jim really couldn't find a reason to doubt her.

Even Bones only found time to visit his daughter twice during their limited amount of shore leave, the responsibilities and extra work accompanying his promotion to CMO catching up with him more times than he'd like.

But they made it work, not least because little Joanna was old beyond her years and assured both her father and her honorary uncle that she understood.

"You're saving the world," she said firmly, "Which means that you're saving me, because I live on Earth." When Bones first heard his little girl say those words, he'd been annoyed that Jim Kirk had apparently had such a huge effect on his daughter. Then he realised just how grateful he was; it alleviated some of the regret he felt for leaving his little girl without her father.

* * *

When Joanna _does_ finally see her Uncle Jim again, it's three weeks after Jim kind-of-died-but-then-came-back. She walks through the hospital, gripping her mother's hand tightly, wanting to know why on Earth her Uncle Jim was in the hospital in the first place.

Bones meets them at the reception area of the ward Jim had been placed on three weeks previously, and smiled uncontrollably as Joanna immediately released Jocelyn's hand and threw her arms around him.

"I missed you, daddy," she said quietly. He sighed.

"I missed you too, Jo," he murmured, "I'm sorry I missed your birthday."

"S'okay," she replied, "Mommy gave me the present you got me."

"Did you like it?" Bones asked, lifting his little girl off the floor. He'd gotten her a drawing set, just like the one she'd wanted for months. She nodded, looking to Jocelyn expectedly. As if the two had rehearsed the moment, Jocelyn pulled out a sheet of paper from her bag and handed it to Bones, who grinned.

"You drew me?" he asked, smiling at the picture; it was him, in his Starfleet Medical blues, next to the _Enterprise_ , "Why am I all grumpy?"

"Because you’re _always_ grumpy!" Joanna giggled. Bones frowned, making her laugh even more, "See! You're grumpy now!" Bones smiled; he really had missed his little girl.

"She drew one for Jim, too," Jocelyn said, taking another sheet out of her bag.

"Why is Uncle Jim in the hospital?" Joanna asked quietly, looking to her father desperately for answers. Bones sighed.

"Why don't we go and get something to eat, and I'll explain, hmm?" he suggested, placing Joanna back onto the floor. Joanna took his hand in hers.

"Can I have a cake?" she asked as Bones led her towards the cafeteria.

"Of course, Jojo," he said.

"Actually, she hasn't eaten lunch yet, I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Jocelyn, it's one little cake, what harm can it do?"

"You say that now, but I'm going to be the one getting her to eat her dinner later, and she's not going to want anything if she's full of cake!"

Joanna sighed; _this_ was when she needed her Uncle Jim.

* * *

After telling Joanna the story of Jim's death and not-so-death (minus a few details she didn't need to know... such as Spock's almost beating the bad guy to death), Bones led he to Jim's room, at her insistence. She had a look of steely determination on her face that he couldn't quite figure out.

As he opened the door, they found Jim sitting up in bed, reading something on his PADD. Hearing the door open, he looked up, and his face immediately brightened at the sight of his honorary niece.

"Joanna!" he exclaimed, "I didn't know you were coming!" Joana released her father's hand and made her way to Jim's bedside, where she looked up at him with a frown on her face, ar,s stubbornly crossed.

"You promised that you'll always come back." She said, her voice deadly serious. Jim's smile faded as he caught on top what she was saying.

"Your dad told you the story, huh?" he said regretfully. Joanna nodded, still frowning.

"You _promised_!" she said, "And you died! Well, sort of died..."

"I'm sorry, Jojo," Jim said sadly, "I had to save the crew, and Earth. The bad guy... well, he was a very bad guy. I had to fix the ship so that we could stop him." Joanna huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Even if it meant breaking your promise?" she demanded. Jim sighed.

"You know how you said you want to join Starfleet one day?" he asked her quietly. She nodded, her frown not lifting, "Well, when you're older, and you're on a starship with the rest of the crew, you'll realise that... sometimes, you have to make hard choices. And I had to choose between saving the world, and keeping my promise to you. Which would you have picked?"

Bones desperately wanted to step in, to tell Jim that he couldn't ask his seven year old daughter to answer something like that god damnit! Jocelyn held him back, however; their little girl was a smart cookie, and a tough one too. She could deal with answering that kind of question.

Joanna sighed, smiling slightly up at Jim, "I suppose I can forgive you," she said, sounding purposefully reluctant, "I guess I'd choose to save the Earth. As long as you promise that you'll only break your promise if the Earth is in danger. And I mean _lots_ of danger."

Jim grinned, feeling more relieved than anyone could ever understand, "I promise, kiddo." Joanna climbed up onto the bed next to him, hugging him tightly.

"I missed you, Uncle Jim," she murmured. Jim felt a tear or two form in his eyes and he blamed his being over-emotional on the drugs he was being given to aide his recovery.

"I missed you too." He replied.


	3. Caring

When Jim was finally allowed out of the hospital (three months too late, in his opinion), he found himself back in his apartment with Bones flapping around him like a mother hen.

"Bones!" he exclaimed, "I'm fine! You've done my shopping, my laundry, my house keeping... all that's left for me to do is kick back and relax. I'm not going to die if you leave me alone for one night!"

"Yeah, that's what you said last time," Bones grumbled, "And then you went off into the warp core!"

"Well, there're no warp cores in my apartment. Just stop worrying, Bones." Before said doctor could reply, his communicator started beeping.

"Damnit," he muttered, "I'm late for my shift at the clinic... _Don't_ do anything stupid whilst I'm gone." Jim smirked.

"Me? Do something stupid? As if, Bones." the other man rolled his eyes as he left Jim's apartment, wondering what trouble his friend would get into whilst he was gone.

* * *

Jim used his (finally) alone time to catch up on the many (many, many, _many_ ) reports he had to finish, and all of the paperwork he had to sign off. And, he wasn't going to lie: it was actually more tedious than having to spend all of his time in the hospital.

So when a frantic knocking started up at his door, he welcomed the distraction, even more so when he found the source of the knocking to be Jocelyn with Joanna.

"Well, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked grinning moving out of the way to let them in.

"Do you know where Leonard is?" Jocelyn asked desperately. Jim frowned.

"Don't you know that he works at the clinic every Tuesday and Wednesday?" Jim asked her. Jocelyn sighed.

"I knew he wouldn't listen to that message..." she muttered, "I needed him to look after Joanna. I have to go to my sisters, help with some plans for our grandmother's funeral..."

"I could look after Joanna, at least until Bones gets back, if you want," Jim offered. Joanna didn't offer her mother any choice in the matter, throwing herself onto Jim's sofa and making herself comfortable.

"You don't mind?" Jocelyn checked. Jim grinned.

"Not in the slightest," he promised, "You go. We'll be fine, won't we, Jo?" she nodded enthusiastically.

Jocelyn sighed, relieved, "Thanks, Jim. I owe you one!" and with that she left Jim alone in his apartment with a seven year old girl.

 _Hmm_ , Jim thought, _this could get interesting..._

He sat down on the sofa next to Joanna, "So, what do you want to do?" he asked her. Joanna shrugged.

"When I'm with daddy, we normally watch a movie, with popcorn and cookies." She said. Jim looked thoughtful.

"I bet I can make that better," he said confidently. Joanna looked sceptical.

"I bet you can't." She said defiantly. Jim looked smug.

"Have you ever made a blanket fort before?" he asked. Joanna shook her head, looking curious, "Then I can make it better."

Jim figured that Jocelyn wasn't really the kind to engage in the making of blanket forts, and no child should ever have to live their life without experiencing the fun of making one; his childhood had been far from perfect, and even he had precious memories of him and Sam camping out in their front room under a bed sheet over two chairs.

"How do you make a blanket fort?" Joanna asked as Jim crossed the room to a walk in closet.

"Which lots of blankets, and furniture." Jim said simply. Joanna jumped off the sofa, intrigued by Jim's plan.

"Come on, kiddo," Jim said grinning, "Let's get to work."

* * *

The next hour and a half consisted of Jim and Joanna building their fort; Joanna was having the time of her life (or whatever that amounted to for a seven year old... it was probably more like the time of her _week_ ). When it was done, Jim dragged the mattress from his bed through to the lounge and put it inside the fort, before going through to the kitchen to grab whatever junk food he had. That consisted of some potato chips, some chocolate, and a bag of popcorn, with a bottle of Coca Cola to go with it.

"It's not much," he shrugged when he brought it all through to the lounge, grabbing his PADD from the coffee table as he went, "But it's better than fruit, right?"

"Definitely better than fruit," Joanna agreed. With all of their supplies gathered, Jim and Joanna crawled into the fort. Joanna picked out a movie, and the two laid together, Joanna using Jim's chest as a pillow, watching the film on the PADD and eating enough junk food to make Bones' eyes pop out of his head.

By the end of the third movie they watched, Joanna was asleep and Bones was knocking on the door. Jim got up to answer it, careful not to wake Joanna.

"I'll be damned if I don't check my messages," he grumbled as he walked in, "I don't always check them in time, but I check them!" he stopped short, noticing the huge blanket fort in front of him, "What in the name... what have you two been up to?!"

"We built a fort," Jim said proudly, "And watched a couple of movies, ate some junk food..." Bones' eyes narrowed at the last part, but he sighed.

"Just don't tell Jocelyn," he muttered, "Where's Jo?" Jim gestured to the fort, and Bones crouched down, looking through the 'doorway' and smiling at the sight of his sleeping daughter, "You really wore her out with all this building stuff, huh?"

Joanna, hearing her father's voice, lifted her head sleepily, "Daddy?"

"Hey, Jo," he said, "You ready to come home? Your mom said you can stay with me until the weekend."

She nodded, crawling out of the fort and straight into her father's arms; Bones wasn't looking forward to the day when his little girl decided that she was too old to be carried.

"Thanks for looking after her, Jim," Bones said as Jim handed him Joanna's bag.

"No problem, Bones," he said, "I'd do it anytime."

"Don't tell Jocelyn that, either; she _will_ take advantage." Bones smirked.

"Bye, Uncle Jim," Joanna said yawning, "Thanks for teaching me how to build a blanket fort."

"You're welcome, Jojo," he smiled, "I'll see you soon, okay?"

She nodded as Bones carried her out the door and across the hall to his own apartment.

"Night, Jim," he said.

"Night, Bones," Jim grinned, shutting his own door. He turned around, assessing the mess in his apartment and weighing up the pros and cons of taking his mattress back through to his bedroom. He quickly decided that it was way too much effort and crashed in his blanket fort, remembering one of the only happy times of his childhood.


	4. Trust

KEY

_Italics -_ Jim's storytelling

 ** _Bold_** **italics** \- Jim remembering speech

* * *

"Uncle Jim?" Jim looked up from the report he was reading to see Joanna poking her head around the doorframe of his office in Starfleet headquarters (he had an office now; after the business with Khan and the fact that he was arguably one of the most experienced and tested members of Starfleet there currently was, the admiralty thought he deserved one). The Enterprise was roughly half-fixed, with Scotty saying that she'd be 'good as new in five months'.

Jim was somewhat surprised to see his 'niece'; he knew that she was staying with Bones whilst Jocelyn was abroad for work, but he hadn't expected to see Joanna until he returned home that evening.

"Hey, Jojo," Jim said grinning, pushing the report to one side, "What are you doing up here? Where's your dad?"

"In medical," Joanna shrugged, "He said he had to shout at some cadets and told me to come and find you." Jim smirked; he definitely did _not_ envy those cadets...

"So, you're staying with your dad for a while, huh?" he asked as Joanna climbed onto his lap. Joanna nodded, frowning before talking again.

"Uncle Jim? How come you never talk about _your_ mommy and daddy?" Jim was silent for a moment; he had been wondering when, if ever, Joanna was going to ask him about his parents.

"Well," he started, "I could tell you about my parents, but that story's a bit short and dramatic and sad. I _could_ tell you about _my_ life, which is much more interesting, because I haven't really had a mommy and a daddy like you do. Which would you rather I tell?"

"The second one," Joanna decided after a moment of contemplation. Jim nodded approvingly.

"Nearly twenty-seven years ago, Lieutenant Commander George Kirk was made Acting Captain of the USS Kelvin after the ship went to investigate a lightning storm in space."

"Your dad?" Joanna questioned.

"My dad," Jim confirmed.

" _The Kelvin was being attacked by a Romulan ship that came out of the centre of the storm itself. The Romulans on board the other ship hailed the captain, telling him to go aboard their ship, the Nerada, to negotiate a ceasefire. If they didn’t, he said he would condemn all of his crew to die in the Romulans' next attack. The captain left George Kirk in command of his ship with orders to use autopilot to escape the Romulans and to evacuate the crew if he hadn't returned in fifteen minutes... the captain never returned. Within minutes of his arrival on the Romulan ship, the crew of the Kelvin were alerted of the fact that the Romulans had killed their captain; Acting Captain Kirk advanced to Captain just as the Romulans fired another attack on the ship. He immediately gave the order for the crew to evacuate._

" _Amongst the rush to evacuate, Winona Kirk was in labour, giving birth to her second child whilst her husband was trying to save as many members of his crew as he could. He got his wife and the medical team delivering her baby onto a shuttle and tried to regain control of the ship. But the autopilot malfunctioned; the shuttles couldn't get the crew to safety without something, or someone, controlling the ship._

" _Without a second thought, he ordered the pilot of his wife's shuttle to go without him. He couldn't risk his wife's safety, or the safety of their child. He knew that he couldn't fight off the Romulan ship with the Kelvin in the state that it was in, and he certainly couldn't do it alone. The only way to give the shuttles a chance of getting away safely was to cause the Romulan ship enough damage to stop it being able to attack. The only way to do that with a damaged ship and weapons offline was to fly the Kelvin directly into the Romulan ship, sacrificing himself to save the eight hundred remaining members of the crew, including his wife and newborn son."_

"Your daddy was a hero!" Joanna exclaimed. Jim smiled at that.

"Yes, he was, kiddo," he agreed, "Just like your daddy. He saves lives every day."

"Damn straight he does," Bones' voice startled both Jim and Joanna, as they both looked round to see the man himself in the doorway.

"Hey, Bones," Jim grinned, "I was just telling Joanna a story."

"You haven't _finished_ it yet," Joanna reminded him.

"Oh, well, don't let me interrupt," Bones said, only slightly sarcastic, "Carry on with your storytelling, Jim."

He nodded, "I grew up in my Uncle Frank's house in Iowa with my older brother Sam."

" _After my dad's death, my mom was off planet a lot working for Starfleet. Frank... he wasn't a nice guy, but he was my mom's brother; she never believed what Sam and I told her about what he did whilst she was working. Because she was away a lot, I didn't really get a chance to bond with her; not properly. When she was around, Frank would always tell her what a pain me and my brother had been whilst she was gone. In time, I think I realised that she was my mother, she was the woman who gave birth to me, but she didn't care. She wasn't really my mom."_

"You don't love your mommy?" Joanna asked quietly. Bones was internally debating whether or not to intervene; there was very little of Jim's past that he didn't know, and he knew that the majority of it wasn't pretty. There were certainly parts that Joanna should be kept away from until she could definitely handle them.

"I didn't say that," Jim said, smiling slightly, "And I'm definitely not finished. In all fairness, I was quite a troublesome kid-"

"You drove your uncle's car off a cliff," Bones said gruffly, "I think you were a little more than 'quite troublesome'."

"It was my dad's car, actually, and Frank wanted to sell it," Jim protested, "But _anyway_ , that's not part of the story."

" _From the age of thirteen, I wasn't in Iowa a lot. My mom sent me off-planet for a year because of my bad behaviour, and when I got back to Earth I didn't really feel like seeing my family, so I travelled around by myself. There was nothing left for me back home except a disgusting uncle and a mom who didn't care. My brother left years before I did, and sometimes I wish I'd followed him. I lost all contact with my mom, and I didn't think I'd ever see her again... I was okay with that. When I came back to Iowa about a year before I joined Starfleet, I stayed away from her house, but I was known in all the bars, and with the police. That's just the person I was by then._

" _One night, I got in a fight in a bar with a few Starfleet cadets. To tell you the truth, it was three on one, and I was losing. Badly. Captain Pike came in a broke it up, and he tried to convince me to join Starfleet. He told me all about my dad and what he did, and Pike dared me to do better. He told me that I could be an officer in four years and have my own ship in eight. I told him I'd be an officer in three years. I didn't know I'd have my own ship by then as well._

" _Pike was my mentor when I was at the academy, and I was the only cadet he was mentoring at the time. We got close, to the point that, when your dad smuggled me onto the_ Enterprise _, Pike made me his first officer. I don't completely know why, to this day, but I figured he knew me well enough to give me the responsibility. Pike was like a father to me, in some ways more of a father than my real dad. When he died in Khan's attack... I went out for revenge, and I should feel bad about that but I can't. Because I know that Pike's death, and my willingness to avenge it, have made me the person I am today."_

"You're so dramatic," Bones muttered, "And you missed out all the good bits. Like that time at the academy when-"

"Yes, thank you, Bones," Jim interrupted quickly, making Joanna giggle.

"Uncle Jim, what does Captain Pike have to do with your mommy?" she asked, eager for Jim to continue his story.

"The next time I saw my mom after she sent me off-planet was when I was in the hospital after Khan's attack," Jim looked pointedly at Bones, who held his hands up in surrender.

"It was common practice to notify the next of kin when their son _died_ ," he said defensively, "And even though you're not dead, I couldn't not tell her Jim. Tell Jo about what your mom said when you spoke to her in the hospital." Jim sighed.

" _I woke up one afternoon after your dad made me take a nap, and my mom was sitting by my bed. She looked like she'd been crying, and the second she saw I was awake, she grabbed my hand and just said two words:_

" ** _I'm sorry."_**

" _At first I was too shocked to say anything. I hadn't seen my mom for over thirteen years. I didn't know how to react around her. Then she started crying again, and she started talking._

" ** _I never stopped loving you, Jim. I know it must have seemed like I didn't care, and that I didn't love you, but I've always loved you and I've always cared. But seeing you as you grew up... you reminded me so much of your father, you reminded me of what I lost. I was selfish, and I pushed you away because I couldn't handle to face what happened and get to know you. By the time I started coming to my senses, it was too late."_**

" _She explained everything to me, everything that I'd ever questioned about my place in my family. It was a turning point, a chance to get to know my mother all over again."_

Jim paused as Joanna stared at him, mouth open slightly, waiting for the next part.

"What happened next?" she prompted.

"The next morning, my mom flew out on a recovery ship to help collect debris from the _Enterprise_ that had been left in space," Jim shrugged. Joanna's mouth dropped open.

"She left?!" she shrieked, "She just left you in the hospital?!" Jim smiled slightly.

"Yeah," he said, "She did, kiddo. But do you know what? That's okay. Because, the next day, you came to visit."

Joanna smiled slightly, glad that _she_ was the one to see Jim after his mom ran off, "Is that the end?" she asked.

"The end so far," Jim confirmed. Joanna could see that the smile he had on his face was fake; she knew how to spot sadness in Jim's eyes (she had seen it for herself when she told him she was angry at him for 'dying').

"I'm sorry the story made you sad," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"I'm not sad, Jojo," Jim said, "Just a little bit lonely." Bones sat back in his seat, wondering what it was about Joanna that made Jim be completely honest with her.

"You've got me," Joanna told him, "And daddy. And mommy says you're her friend. Mr Spock even said that you were friends when I asked him!"

"You asked Spock if he was my friend?" Jim asked, pulling back from the hug with a look of amusement on his face. Joanna nodded sincerely.

"And I'd ask every person at Starfleet if it'd prove to you that you weren't alone." Joanna said firmly. Jim smiled slightly.

"I don't think that's necessary, Jo," Bones said, standing up, "Besides, we need to go and get lunch. Jim, do you wanna tag along? If you're not busy that is..." he looked pointedly at the report, which was still sitting to the side.

"Well, that report has to be read and signed off by tomorrow morning... so yes, I am busy, and yes I am coming for lunch." He said as Joanna jumped off his lap.

"You're not a very responsible captain, you know that?" Bones asked.

"Where's the fun in being responsible? I'd never have found out that Spock and Uhura have made their relationship official in the eyes of the admiralty if I'd been responsible..."

"They did _what_?!" Bones exclaimed, "How did you find that out?"

"Well, this is a funny story, you see..."

Joanna sighed, slipping her hand into her father's as they walked down to the cafeteria; there were some things that she understood at seven years old (such as the fact that her Uncle Jim was only lonely when he didn't have her to tell him otherwise). However, the concept and practice of gossiping was something that currently evaded her knowledge, something that Jim was becoming more aware of as their lunch went on.

Well... he'd have to change that.


	5. Friendship

The next six months passed in a surprising blur for Jim. As promised, the _Enterprise_ was fully operational (and arguably better than before) five months after Jim told Joanna his life story. To re-christen the ship, Jim had the pleasure of travelling to a planet light-years away for a diplomatic conference, which he was looking forward to like a hypo in his neck.

"This is going to be so dull," Jim complained to McCoy as the _Enterprise_ came within a reasonable distance of the planet, "It's like the Admiralty are punishing us for all of the drama we got into with Khan."

"Jim, I'm pretty sure that's not it," McCoy replied, rolling his eyes at the captain, "And if it was, they probably would have just _told_ you that that was it. The Admiralty aren't really the kind of people to beat around the bush... not about _that_ kind of thing, anyway." Jim huffed.

"Well, they'll be happy to know that the only trouble we could possibly get into is dying of _boredom_." He grumbled, entering the bridge.

"Keptin on the bridge," Chekov called out cheerfully; honestly, Jim wondered how that kid was so damn _perky_ all the time!

"Thank you, Mr Chekov," Jim said, sighing as he sunk into his chair. He tried desperately to think of something funny, or at least uplifting, to say, but gave up and turned to his crew, "Though I very much doubt it, has anyone got anything important I should know about the ship, or the mission, or... well, anything?"

"We're expected to arrive at the planet in approximately sixteen hours, Captain," Sulu offered.

"Thank you, Mr Sulu," Jim nodded, "Lieutenant Uhura, anything on their language? Or am I going to have to wing it and hope that I haven't said anything too offensive when it's translated into their native tongue?"

"All I've been able to gather is that it's a language in its own right and that some words don't translate directly... I'd suggest being cautious in what you say, sir."

"Noted. Thank you, Lieutenant," Jim nodded to her, spinning back around in his chair to face forwards again, "Anyone got anything else?" after a few 'no, sir's and 'no, Captain's, Jim nodded, taking a PADD Spock was passing to him, "Is this the report from the Admirals?"

"Affirmative, Captain," Spock said, "My initial read-through has alerted me to the fact that it is vague in several places due to a lack of knowledge regarding the culture and nature of the species, and so I must second Lieutenant Uhura's suggestion to be cautious with your words."

"Because it's too damn difficult to conduct a thorough investigation," Jim muttered, "Thank you, Commander."

"Goddamned Admirals," McCoy muttered, "Just do me a favour Jim? Get me back in time for Joanna's birthday. I promised her."

"That's next Friday, right? The fourteenth?" Jim checked.

"Get me back for then, Jim," McCoy said gruffly, "She said the only present she wanted this year was her daddy home on her birthday. I'm not missing out on giving her that gift."

* * *

McCoy paced restlessly across the room in his quarters.

"Goddamn Admirals and goddamn Starfleet," he muttered angrily, "Keeping me away from my little girl... I bet _they_ know what to get _their_ kids for _their_ birthdays..." he was driving himself up the wall trying to think of a good birthday present for Joanna, but he couldn't come up with single _idea_ , let alone a plan for getting her something.

He whipped around, freezing in the centre of the room, as the door to his room swished open. He sighed in annoyance as he was met with Jim grinning madly.

"Hey Bones!" He said. The diplomatic conference had ended in the _Enterprise_ having to make a reasonably quick getaway (how was Jim supposed to know that 'join the Federation' translated to 'be conquered by the Federation', and 'mine for dilithium' translated to 'tear up your land' in the other party's native language?!). Jim seemed completely relaxed about the entire thing, stating that it was 'just one of those things'. McCoy just hoped that the other side saw it that way...

"What do you want Jim?" McCoy asked, frowning at his friend, "You're not dying, are you? Because I'm off duty." Jim rolled his eyes.

"I'm not dying," he assured him, "But I could practically _feel_ you pacing on the other side of the ship. I thought I'd come and be a good friend and see what was wrong." McCoy considered asking if Jim had hacked the video feed to his room again, but decided against it; he probably wouldn't have gotten a straight answer anyway.

"I can't think of a present for Joanna," he sighed, sitting down on his sofa, "I've been thinking, and thinking, but... I feel like I don't even _know_ her, Jim. She's my little girl, and I can't even figure out what she wants for her birthday."

"She wants _you_ , remember?" Jim asked, frowning at him, "That's what she asked for, so that's what she's going to get. We'll be back by Monday at the latest."

"But that's not something _special_ ," McCoy protested, "I mean, okay, it's rare that I'm at home and she gets to see me, but... it isn't unique enough to be a gift." Jim smirked.

"You're going all soppy on me, Bones!" he whined, "Look at you! You're getting all upset because you can't go _shopping_!"

"Kid, if you think I won't hypo your ass into another galaxy if you tell anyone about this, then you're not the genius everything thinks you are."

"There's the Bones I know and love," Jim laughed, before looking thoughtful, "You want something unique, right?"

"I said that, didn't I?!" McCoy grumbled, not completely trusting Jim to not go out and tell someone (probably Scotty) of the fact that he was getting worked up about not being able to get his daughter a suitable present.

"And you want it to be something you could do together..." Jim was smiling slightly now, the fact that he had an idea so obvious that the only thing that would make it _more_ apparent would be if he had a light bulb flashing above his head.

"Where're you going with this, kid?" McCoy asked, now frowning at Jim's mysteriousness.

"I've got an idea," Jim grinned, "And I think it's going to make you particularly popular with Jo..."

* * *

"Listen, Jim, I appreciate you doing this for me," McCoy muttered as they walked up to Jocelyn's front door, "I'll make sure that Joanna gets to spend some time with you, and that she knows it was your idea..."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Bones," Jim said, clasping his shoulder, "This is _your_ gift to Joanna. I just okayed it. As far as she knows, this is _your_ doing. Besides, I've got her another gift."

McCoy was about to ask Jim if he was sure, and that he didn't mind sharing the gift; he _then_ decided that he wasn't willing to risk it, and nodded to his friend, "I owe you one." He muttered.

Before they even reached the door, it flew open and Joanna appeared, sprinting at her father so fast that he didn't see her until she slammed into him, her arms flying around his waist.

"Daddy you're here!" she said happily, "You're here on my birthday! Just like you said!"

"I promised, didn't I?" he chuckled, hugging her back, "Happy birthday, Jojo." Joanna then turned to Jim, jumping up into his arms.

"Hello to you too!" he laughed, "Happy birthday, Jo." She smiled widely at him.

"Thank you," she said, almost shyly, "For bringing daddy home in time. Did you stop any more bad guys?" Jim grimaced.

" _We_ were almost the bad guys this time," he said, "but that's a story for later. First, we have to enjoy your birthday." Joanna sighed, but smiled as he put her down. She took her father's hand in hers, dragging him towards the house.

"Mommy says you got me another present," she said as she walked, "But I told her she was wrong because I only asked for one thing."

"Your Mom was right, Jo," McCoy said, secretly thinking that he would have _loved_ to have been there the day Joanna told Jocelyn that she was wrong, "But it's a surprise." She made a face.

"I don't like surprises," she grumbled, and Jim was reminded immediately of Bones. He grinned, getting his present for Joanna out of the hovercar before following the two into the house.

* * *

"What's the surprise?" Joanna asked impatiently as her mother made tea.

"If I tell you then it isn't a _surprise_ , is it?" McCoy teased, chuckling slightly at Joanna's pouting, "I'll give you a clue: we have to travel to get there." Joanna frowned.

"That's a silly clue," she decided, "You'll have to give me another one." McCoy gave his daughter a disapproving look, but complied.

"It involves both me and Jim." He told her, smiling internally at the expressions that flashed across Joanna's face as she tried to figure it out.

"Maybe my present can be a bit of a clue," Jim said, reappearing a few minutes after Bones and Joanna. He placed an impeccably wrapped parcel in front of Joanna on the kitchen table, grinning as Joanna looked to her mother for permission to open it before she carefully proceeded to do so.

"I didn't know you could wrap, Jim," McCoy noted dryly, knowing full well that it wasn't _Jim_ who had done said wrapping.

"Ah, er... Carol gave me a hand." He said, waving it off.

"Is Carol the nice blonde lady with the funny accent?" Joanna asked, pausing in her unwrapping.

"That's the one," McCoy confirmed. Joanna smiled.

"I like her," she said decisively, "And her present wrapping."

"So does Uncle Jim," McCoy whispered loudly to her, winking when they both caught the blush on Jim's face.

"You two shouldn't tease," Jocelyn scolded, "You wait until you get yourself another lady, Leonard. I'm sure Jim will be relentlessly picking at you." Joanna's face fell into a frown.

"Daddy, are you going to get another lady _soon_?" she asked, looking up at her father expectantly. McCoy chuckled.

"I'm not planning on it, sweetheart, no." He told her.

"Good," Joanna muttered, finally pulling the paper away. Inside was a purple Starfleet shirt, complete with the silver insignia. Joanna's face lit up, "A Starfleet shirt!" she squealed, immediately pulling it over her head, making the three adults start laughing as she got herself tangled up in her eagerness.

"Her own Starfleet shirt?" Jocelyn murmured to Jim, "How did you fix _that_ one up?!" Jim smirked.

"I've been saying that kids of Starfleet officers who want to join Starfleet should be more recognisable on campus for a while," he told her, "The Admiralty have only just agreed. Apparently, recruitment levels have dropped since Khan, so they're pretty desperate. I thought, seeing as Jo's so set on joining Starfleet when she's finished school, she should be the first to get a shirt."

Jocelyn shook her head, "She's never going to want to take it off," she told him as McCoy and Joanna finally managed to get the shirt on right, Joanna giggling happily.

"I've got a few more in the back of the car," he told her, "Just in case."

"Advice from Carol?" Jocelyn grinned.

"Possibly," Jim said grudgingly, "And _what_ were you just saying about teasing?" the woman simply laughed, moving around the table to 'inspect' her daughter.

"Yes, I approve," she said seriously, smiling at her little girl, "A Starfleet officer in the making, for sure."

"Don't remind me," McCoy moaned, "She still has at least eight years of school. Eight years is a long time. She's not Starfleet just yet."

"Am too!" Joanna protested, "Look! I'm wearing a _Starfleet_ shirt! ...Oh! Is my present something to do with Starfleet?!" she looked up at her father pleadingly, begging for an answer.

"Got it in one, Jo," he grinned, "We should probably get going actually. We don't want to be late."

"Late for _what_?!" Joanna demanded, bored of the guessing game. Jim grinned, lifting her up onto his shoulders, earning him another giggle.

"For takeoff, of course!" he exclaimed.

"Takeoff?" Joanna looked down at her father, confused.

"You remember when you told Uncle Jim that you wanted to go on the _Enterprise_?" He asked. Joanna's face lit up in realisation.

"I'm going on the _Enterprise_?!" she squealed.

"You're _staying_ on the _Enterprise_ ," Jim corrected her, "We've got to deliver some goods to a planet a couple of days away. You, Miss McCoy, are going on a week-long residential trip with your dad onboard Starfleet's most amazing starship." Joanna laughed, poking Jim's head until he let her down enough for her to clamber into her father's arms.

"Thank you, daddy," she whispered, "This is the best birthday present ever!"


	6. Adventure

"You'll be a good girl for your daddy, won't you?" Jocelyn checked as she handed Joanna her jacket, which she tied around her waist (god forbid she cover her new Starfleet shirt). Joanna nodded.

"I promise I'll be good, mommy," she said seriously, "I might not be allowed back if I'm not a good girl." Jocelyn kissed her cheek before turning to McCoy.

"Her bedtime is eight," she said, "She eats dinner at six. Oh, and no matter what she says, she is _not_ allowed any chocolate after seven."

"I know, Jocelyn, I know," he said, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes, "You tell me every time she comes to say. I've got it committed to memory about eighty times over. She'll be fine." Jocelyn sighed.

"She'd better be," she grumbled, "You." She pointed her finger menacingly at Jim, "If I find out that you've got my little girl into any kind of trouble involving some... intergalactic, serial-killing alien masterminds, I will have your head on a hot tray fresh out of the oven, got it?" Jim swallowed.

"Loud and clear, ma'am," he said, saluting her jokily with a small smile, "Joanna will be completely safe. I swear on my life."

"Yeah, well that's what it'll cost you if she's not," Jocelyn said, kissing Joanna again.

"I'm only going for a week, mommy!" Joanna laughed, "Alice isn't going to _believe_ this... Oh, and make sure you feed Coco!"

"Coco?!" McCoy muttered to Jocelyn as Jim offered Joanna a piggy back up the ramp and into the shuttle.

"Her new guinea-pig..." Jocelyn grimaced, "A birthday present from Alice." McCoy smirked.

"Well, I know where to get a tribble infused with a super-human's blood if you want to get your own back on Alice's birthday," McCoy smirked. Jocelyn chucked before pulling him into a hug.

"Look after our little girl, alright?" she said before pushing him towards the shuttle.

* * *

Joanna kneeled in her seat to get a better look out the shuttle window next to her.

"Daddy, look at all the stars!" she exclaimed, eyes wide as she stared intently out the window.

"I know, Jo," McCoy grinned, looking out with her, "It's a bit harder to spot the constellations from up here, huh?" Joanna simply nodded, too enthralled to say another word.

When the shuttlecraft finally reached the _Enterprise_ (after half an hour of Joanna bouncing constantly in her seat), Jim excused himself to go and attend to 'boring Captain-y things'.

"I'll let your dad give you the grand tour," he said, winking at Joanna before walking in the opposite direction.

McCoy did as Jim had said, showing Joanna anything and everything there was to see onboard the USS Enterprise. Joanna was constantly questioning things, asking what things were and what they did. McCoy was more than happy to answer her questions, grateful for the time he was getting to spend with his daughter, knowing that, if the _Enterprise_ DID get the big five-year mission Jim was constantly talking about (and the Captain was positive that it _would_ get said mission), then Bones wouldn't be seeing his little girl for a long time.

"Where next?" he asked, lifting Joanna up so that she could see the map of the ship on the screen in front of him. Joanna closed her eyes, and pointed at a random part of the ship. McCoy grinned, "Engineering it is, then." He said, putting her down on the floor so that she could run ahead.

Several times they stopped for Joanna to talk to crewmembers she had met previously (which was a surprising large amount of those onboard), most of them saying how much she'd grown and wishing her a happy birthday. Joanna slowed down as they reached the doors to Engineering to wait for her dad, and they pushed the door open together, only to have McCoy hurriedly cover his daughter's ears in an attempt to block out the _long_ list of obscenities currently coming out of Scotty's mouth.

"Oh, and that's another thing you thick, stupid little-"

"Scotty!" McCoy yelled, "Small person onboard! Small person with innocent ears that don't need to be corrupted by _your_ foul mouth!"

"Oh! Sorry, Doctor! Didn't know the wee lass was around!" Scotty appeared from behind a console, grinning madly. Joanna shook her father's hands away from her head, grinning back at him.

"Hello, Mr Scott!" she said happily.

"Welcome aboard, Miss McCoy!" he replied, bowing to her, "And I hope our esteemed guest will enjoy her stay on the best starship in the Federation!" Joanna giggled.

"Jo, I think I see Lieutenant Riley right over... there!" McCoy said, pointing the him out. Hearing his name the man turned around, grinning when he saw Joanna running over to him, "Do you want to explain the shouting match?" McCoy asked Scotty, his arms crossed. The Scotsman frowned.

"Hey, I was well within me rights!" he said, "Some stupid ensign thought it'd be clever to play with the controls on one of the circuit boards. The result was an explosion on the other side of the deck, which almost took out six of my engineers!" McCoy rolled his eyes.

"Just when I was beginning to have faith in your team," he muttered, "Do they possess an ounce of common sense between them?"

"No," Scotty grumbled, "That was my point!"

"Daddy! Lieutenant Riley says he'll show me how they blow things up!" Joanna said excitedly, running back to her father.

McCoy threw Scotty a look that clearly said 'I'm going to make you pay for this later', to which Scotty hurriedly explained that they only ever blew things up 'when necessary and always under controlled conditions!'.

"Maybe later, Jo," McCoy said, "We still have to see the rest of the ship." Joanna sighed.

"Okay," she said, "Bye, Scotty!"

"Goodbye, lass!" he replied, moving to go back to telling off the ensign.

* * *

 

McCoy decided to take Joanna to the Bridge last, because he knew that she'd like it there the most (though he took her to Sickbay second last, because she didn't have a choice in it being her second-favourite place onboard). They had been travelling for around three hours, and the Bridge was quiet, most people having to do the bare minimum to get their current job done.

"Uncle Jim!" Joanna squealed the second the doors opened, causing Jim to grin madly.

"Hey, Jojo!" he said as she climbed onto his lap, "How was your tour? Did your dad show you everywhere?"

Joanna nodded, "We went to go and see Scotty, and he was saying bad words, and then Lieutenant Riley said that he'd show me how they blow stuff up!" she told him excitedly, "And then we went up to Security, and we saw Cupcake, and he had a funny twitch in his eye when I called him that, but I don't know why! You told me that his _name_ was Cupcake!" Jim grinned.

"That's what _I_ call him," he clarified, "What about Sickbay? Did you go up there?"

"Daddy said that it was his favourite place on the ship because he never gets to go anywhere else," Joanna laughed, "But I liked it."

"Well, your dad _obviously_ saved the best bit until last," Jim said smugly, before noticing that everyone on the Bridge had stopped to watch the exchange between him and Joanna, "Oh, come on, people!" he exclaimed, "How is Miss McCoy supposed to get a feel of a Federation starship if all you lot are doing is _gawping_?!" Everyone quickly turned back to their stations, a few of them sniggering, but for once Jim didn't care.

He walked around with Joanna, her gripping his hand and not wanting to let go whilst McCoy went back up to Sickbay.

"Not all of us have jobs that require us to sit in a chair and look pretty, you know!" he called as he walked out, earning a laugh from Joanna.

Walking around, Joanna knew everyone by name, but she didn't know them _well_. The only person she even remotely know on a personal level was Spock, and Jim wasn't quite sure the relationship between the CMO's daughter and his First Officer could be considered 'personal'.

"Hello, Mr Spock," Joanna said respectfully when they got round to him.

"Hello, Joanna," he replied, turning away from his work, "I trust you are enjoying your time onboard the _Enterprise_?"

"Yes, thank you," Joanna replied, a small smile on her face, "What are you doing?"

"I am currently reading through some reports regarding our last mission, which I will later send over to the Captain for him to approve." Spock looks pointedly at Jim with a look that clearly said 'don't think you're getting out of it just because there's an adorable little girl on board'. Joanna nodded, her attention already wandering to other parts of the Bridge.

"I have an idea," Kirk said catching Uhura's eye and gesturing for her to come over, "Why don't you go with Lieutenant Uhura to get some lunch, Jo? Then I can get all of my boring captain stuff out the way, and we can go and play laser tag." Joanna grinned.

"You have laser tag?" she asked.

"Deck seven," Jim confirmed, "But later. After boring captain things." Joanna nodded, smiling at Uhura and taking her hand as they walked out.

"Miss Uhura?" Joanna said after a while of them walking in silence, "Is it true that Mr Spock is your boyfriend?" Uhura smiled.

"Yes, that is true," she said, "We're very happy together."

"Even though Mr Spock is half Vulcan and isn't supposed to have feelings?" It was an innocent enough question, Uhura supposed, and one she'd often answered (though the people who normally asked were not eight years old and had been her close friends).

"Even though Mr Spock is half Vulcan and isn't supposed to have feelings," Uhura nodded, "Although, Vulcans _do_ feel, Joanna. They're just very, _very_ good at hiding it."

"Have you met Ambassador Spock?" Joanna asked, "He said that Uncle Jim is his best friend, but not _my_ Uncle Jim."

"I saw him via screen once," Uhura offered, "But I've never really spoken to him. I hope to, one day. He's from another reality, so I bet he's got some interesting stories." Joanna smiled.

"Does _your_ Spock have interesting stories?" she asked, looking up at Uhura as they walked into the cafeteria. Uhura looked thoughtful.

"Maybe we should ask him," she said, but laughed as Joanna's eyes widened at someone walking past with a slice of cake on their tray, "But _after_ lunch."

* * *

Once Joanna and Uhura had left, Jim returned to his chair on the Bridge, knowing that Spock was following with a PADD in his hand.

"Your relationship with Doctor McCoy's daughter is... fascinating, Captain." He commented as Jim started skimming through the report.

"And what about it is 'fascinating', Mr Spock?" Jim asked, not looking up from the report for the fear of seeing Spock's eyebrows raise (as Jim just knew they would).

"Your relationship seems similar to that of a father and daughter," Spock explained, "I am curious as to how you accomplished such a bond."

"It just happened, Spock," Jim said dismissively, "She put her trust in me. I figured I might as well trust her back. Once you've got the trusting part out of the way, everything else comes easy."

Spock raised his eyebrows as Jim signed the report off and handed it back to him, "That is an interesting analysis, Captain," he said, "May I ask how you came to this conclusion?"

"Observation and interaction, Mr Spock," Jim said, wondering how a grand total of forty-six words had made Jim more bored than he had been all day.

"Interesting," Spock said, his eyebrows still stuck about three millimetres above their normal height.

"Is there anything else you needed me for, Mr Spock?" Jim asked, standing up from his chair.

"Nothing that requires your urgent attention," Spock replied, "Would you like me to take the con?"

"If you would," Jim grinned at him, slapping Spock's shoulder (seeing as he _knew_ how much it annoyed the Vulcan), and walking in the direction of Sickbay with the intent of finding Bones and forcing him to play laser tag, "Oh, and when this shift ends, I want you all to come and play laser tag with us."

"Laser tag is a game for Terran children, is it not?" Spock asked, frowning slightly.

"Laser tag is a game for just about anyone, Spock," Jim corrected him, "It's fun. It's like that time when we were on Nero's ship, except without the death threat." Spock decided not to push it any further, knowing that the Captain often had odd ideas when it came to 'fun'.

* * *

McCoy was surprisingly easy to persuade, but it was evening by the time his shift finished and he, Jim, Joanna, Spock and the majority of the Bridge crew got a chance to play laser tag. Seeing as Alpha shift was over and they could do pretty much anything they wanted to do with the twelve hours they had before their next shift, and everyone was a bit too hyped up after their first day of travelling to just go to bed. Jim had even invited Carol along, and Joanna managed to catch every single suggestive look the crew gave each other whenever Jim laughed at her jokes a little too loud, or tried to act all clever around her. Joanna frowned slightly.

"Daddy?" she whispered, tugging on the sleeve of her father's shirt, "Why do everyone's faces go funny whenever Uncle Jim is nice to Miss Carol?" McCoy grinned internally as he answered.

"Because Uncle Jim is showing off," he explained, "And that normally means that he likes someone a bit more than a friend." Joanna frowned even further.

"Then why doesn't he just ask her to be his girlfriend?" she asked, not understanding why her Uncle Jim was being so completely stupid.

"Because you never tell a girl that you like her," her dad explained, "It makes you look stupid."

"But he _already_ looks stupid!" Joanna protested.

McCoy chuckled, "I know, sweetheart."

The version of laser tag they were playing was significantly more difficult than it had been a hundred years previously. Instead of vests with light sensors on them, everyone wore smaller bands around their wrists and ankles, and a belt around their waist, all of which had sensors at random intervals so that, even if you hit the band, you didn't necessarily hit on target.

Many of the adults playing were reluctant to play their best when competing against Joanna, but the little girl stood up on a bench outside the arena, crossed her arms firmly and said, "I don't want anyone to go easy on me."

Everyone turned to McCoy, looking at him as if to ask if they should argue (or even ignore) his daughter. He shrugged.

"If she says don't go easy, don't go easy," he told them, "She's a damned good shot, I can tell you that." Despite his words, they all made a mutual agreement to go a _tiny_ bit easy on Joanna.

The game began and everyone scattered, the rules being 'all versus all'. Joanna had the rather large advantage of being able to hide behind pretty much anything. On top of that, McCoy hadn't been lying when he'd said she was a good shot; she'd been playing laser tag for as long as she could remember, Jim having remembered her saying that it was something she did a lot with her dad when he suggested it.

When the first game ended and the scores were uploaded to the score board outside the arena (three points for every time you hit someone, minus two points every time you got hit), Joanna ran out and looked confused when she saw that she was top.

"Weren't any of you trying?" she demanded, "I told you not to go easy on me!"

The adults looked genuinely confused, except for McCoy and Jim.

"You're pretty good at this, Jojo," Jim said, grinning, "Want to play again?" Joanna huffed.

"Fine," she said, "But this time, you all have to _try_. It's no fun if you let me win!"

After a few minutes rest, they all re-entered the arena, many of the players now more determined to win after being beaten by an eight-year-old girl.

Many gave up after the second game (when Joanna beat them all again, though by a smaller amount), leaving just Jim, Joanna and McCoy playing.

"It's because she's a kid," Sulu muttered to Chekov, "Kids love stuff like that." Chekov shrugged.

"It is only a game," he said, "And Joanna is wery good at it."

When the third and final game ended, Joanna glared at Jim, who had come last with a score of minus a thousand and four, the majority of which came from him letting Joanna follow him around and shoot him constantly.

"Uncle Jim!" she complained, "You didn't even _try_!"

"I did too!" he protested.

"Liar," Joanna grumbled.

"It's your birthday, I have to let you win!" Jim argued, grinning down at her. Joanna frowned.

"I'm still going to get you back." She decided.

"Oh, really?" Jim said, giving her a disbelieving look, "And how are you going to do that, Miss McCoy?" Joanna thought for a moment before grinning evilly.

"I'm going to tell Miss Carol that you like her more than a friend." She said, grinning. Jim gaped for a moment before hastily trying to clear his name.

"What? I don't like Carol! I mean, of course I like her as a _friend_ , but not as anything else. And I mean, I suppose we could play another game of laser tag and I'll play properly, I promise!" Joanna smirked.

"Too late," she sang, running back to her dad, who picked her up.

"What's too late?" McCoy asked.

"Too late for Uncle Jim," Joanna giggled, "I'm getting my own back because he let me win."

"Ahh, I see," he nodded, "Well, you can get your own back in the morning, Jo. It's past your bedtime as it is, and I don't want your mom to shout at me when we get back." Joanna sighed.

"Okay," she said, "But can Uncle Jim come and tell me a bedtime story?"

"A quick one," McCoy nodded.

"The one about your last mission!" Joanna exclaimed, "Plleeaassee, Uncle Jim? _Pretty_ please?" Jim grinned.

"Alright, Jojo, I'll tell you the story," he said, "But only the short version. The long version involves boring conversations about politics, and that was boring enough the first time."

* * *

When Jim had finished his story, Joanna was almost asleep (sleeping in one of the other Starfleet shirts that Jim had got her).

"Daddy?" she said quietly, "Thank you for the best birthday ever." McCoy smiled.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," he said, "I'm glad I was around for it this time." She smiled.

"That's the best part," she said, yawning and closing her eyes, "Night night, Daddy."

"Goodnight, Jo."


	7. Guidance

Bones left early the next morning, waking Joanna briefly to tell her where he was going.

“You can wander around the ship this morning, if you like,” he said, “Jim said you’ve got free reign. I’ll find you when it’s time for lunch.”

“’Kay,” she murmured sleepily, not really listening to him, “Love you, daddy.” Bones smiled.

“I love you too, darlin’.”

As she laid in bed, unable to get back to sleep, Joanna thought about her father’s job, and what her Uncle Jim did on a daily basis. She wasn’t stupid; she knew that the two of them never told her the full story of their adventures traversing the galaxy. Her Uncle Jim had _died_ , for goodness sake, and yet he was currently ordering people around on the Bridge! What she really needed was reliable information.

She had known for almost two years that, when she was older, she wanted to be a Starfleet officer. She told everyone she could, every chance she got.

However, she was becoming aware of the problem that she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to _do_ in Starfleet. Her eight-year-old logic decided that this was simply unacceptable; she needed to start making choices _now_.

Joanna was determined to make the most of the opportunity she had been given and so she set out, arming herself with an old notepad and pen, determined to get as much information about as many different areas of Starfleet as she could.  Dressed in another of her new Starfleet shirts, she was on a mission to decide exactly what kind of Starfleet officer she was going to be.

* * *

As she walked in the direction of the Bridge, she bumped into Sulu, who grinned when he saw her.

“Good morning, Joanna,” he said.

“Hello, Mr Sulu,” she said politely, “How do you know its morning if it’s always dark in space?”

Sulu thought for a moment, then shrugged, “We just go by what the clocks say.”

“But wasn’t there a time when Uncle Jim and Scotty changed all the clocks so ten o’clock in the morning was actually three in the afternoon?” she asked. Sulu chuckled slightly at the memory.

“Yes, that did happen...” he said, “But Admiral Archer got someone in engineering to put some sort of lock on all the clocks so no one can change them.”

“Uncle Jim could hack it,” Joanna said confidently. Sulu secretly doubted it, but decided against arguing with the little girl.

“Was there anything else I can help you with?” he asked. Joanna smiled suddenly.

“Yes!” she said excitedly, “I have some questions.”

“Ask away,” Sulu said, leading her into the cafeteria so that he could get some breakfast during his break.

“What do you do in Starfleet?” she asked, reading off the first question on her list.

“I pilot the ship,” he told her, sitting down opposite her at a table, “I make sure that we’re always on the right course and we’re not going to bump into anything.”

Joanna quickly wrote down his answer, “Okay... next question: when do you get to make the Captain’s decisions?”

“When the First Officer isn’t available to make the decision,” Sulu said, “So, when Jim and Spock are both on an away mission, I’d take charge.”

“Is that nonnegotiable?” Joanna asked, not looking up as she continued writing.

“Not always,” Sulu said, wondering how she even knew what ‘nonnegotiable’ _meant_ , “I could pass the con to someone else, and then they’d be in charge.”

“But what if someone else wants to make the decision?” Joanna asked, “Or if someone thinks you’re wrong? Then what happens? Do you have to listen to them, or can you just ignore them and do what you think?” Sulu frowned.

“Well, a good captain will always take his crew’s views into account,” he said, “But, ultimately, it’s up to whoever is in charge to make the decisions.”

“But _what if-_ ”

Sulu suppressed a sigh; he wondered how Joanna kept track of all of the bizarre questions in her head. He had only been speaking to her for five minutes, and she’d already made him think more than he would during an average day piloting the _Enterprise_.

He knew one thing for sure: from now on, he would never complain about having a quiet break. Contending with an eight-year-old’s logic was _far_ too much work...

* * *

After Joanna finally let Sulu get back to work (after grilling him for a further twenty minutes), she made her way down to Engineering, which was easily one of her favourite places on the ship.

“Mr Scott?” she called out as she walked through the door. Scotty’s head appeared around the doorframe of his office.

“Hello, lass!” he said, grinning, “I wasn’t expecting you down here! What can I do for you?”

“I have some questions to ask,” Joanna said, “About working at Starfleet.” Scotty quickly agreed to help her, completely oblivious to the situation he would momentarily find himself in.

Joanna made her way around the ship, asking different people the same questions over and over about what it was like working for Starfleet.

When Jim heard about this, he at first find it quite amusing; he knew exactly how determined Joanna could be. However, the more he heard about it, the more he wondered what on earth the little girl was planning to do with the information she was gathering.

Bones found her and took her to lunch, and endured forty-five minutes of her babbling about the things she had found out.

“I don’t know what’s going on in that little brain of hers,” Bones said quietly to Jim after Joanna had run off again, “But she’s going to end up wanting to do every single job in Starfleet!” Jim shrugged.

“She’s probably just excited,” Jim said, “It’s unusual for a little girl to be surrounded by so many different officers, especially when she’s set on joining Starfleet. Just give her a while for the excitement to go away and she’ll be back to normal in no time.”

Jim couldn’t have been more wrong. Two days later, Joanna was still carrying the notepad around, though she had stopped firing questions at everyone she saw. She was now silently noting down whatever caught her interest.

Bones didn’t see this as often as Jim did; being the captain, he often wandered around the ship, just to just how everyone was doing (and to avoid succumbing to the boredom that accompanied the Bridge). On the fourth day of her visit, he saw Joanna a total of twelve times in different areas of the ship, seeing her writing notes furiously on her notepad.

If he was honest with himself, he was worried; as much as he was happy that Joanna wanted to work for Starfleet, it seemed to him that she was wishing her childhood away. He, of all people, wanted to make sure that that didn’t happen.

* * *

When his shift finally ended, instead of going straight up to sickbay to meet Bones like he usually did, he went in search of Joanna.

He finally found her lying on her front on the floor of an otherwise empty rec.-room. She was still writing in her notepad (or was it a different one? Jim wasn’t entirely sure).

“Hey, Jojo,” he said as he walked in, sitting down on the floor next to her, “Watcha doing?”

“Collecting research,” she said, glancing up at him, “About Starfleet.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” he said, “But, er... why?” Joanna paused in her writing, looking at him properly.

“Because I don’t know what I want to be yet.” She said simply. Jim shrugged.

“So?” he asked, “Do you need to know right now?” Joanna frowned.

“Yes.” She decided after considering it for a moment, “I only have eight years until I can join, maybe less if I work hard enough... I’m already eight, and daddy always says that the time has flown by. What if the next eight years fly by too, and then, when I can actually join Starfleet, I don’t know what I want to be?”

Jim sighed, “Shall I tell you something?” he asked her. Joanna nodded, “Has your dad ever told you the story of when we first started at Starfleet Academy?”

“He said that he threw up on you on the shuttlecraft,” Joanna giggled, “But nothing other than that.” Jim laughed.

“Well, that did happen,” he said, “But when I first went to the academy, it was a last minute thing. I’d never really wanted to be a Starfleet officer. After what happened with my dad, it didn’t really appeal to me. But there was a great man, called Christopher Pike, who dared me to try it. And I don’t turn down a dare.

“So, the next morning, I boarded a shuttlecraft headed for Starfleet Academy. I didn’t know what I wanted to study, what I wanted to be or if I even wanted to be a member of Starfleet.”

“But now you’re a captain and you know _everything_!” Joanna said, “And you didn’t even have a plan?”

Jim shook his head, smiling slightly, “I didn’t even have a plan. But I didn’t need one, really. Becoming a Starfleet officer isn’t about planning everything out, or making sure you know everything about everything; that stuff comes with time. What I’m trying to say, Jo, is that... you don’t need to rush. You’ve got at least eight years of childhood left. You should make the most of it, not throw it away planning the rest of your life.”

Joanna looked down at the notepad on the floor in front of her. She sighed, flicking it shut, smiling at Jim. “Thanks, Uncle Jim.” She said, hugging him. Jim smiled.

“Any time, Jojo,” he said, “Now, how about we go and surprise your dad, hmm? Maybe we could build another blanket fort.”

“Where are we supposed to build a blanket fort on the _ship_?!” Joanna asked.

“Well, the Captain’s lounge is always free,” Jim grinned, “Shall we give it ago?” Joanna nodded happily.

“Race you to sickbay!” she said, running from the room and off towards the elevator. Jim smiled again, picking her notepad off the floor and flicking through it. Joanna really had been thorough in her research.

He made a mental note to put it somewhere for safekeeping; there would come a day when Joanna would find the information she’d gathered very useful.

But, for the time being, she was finally allowing herself to be a little girl again, and Jim couldn’t wait to take her up on her race.


	8. Knowledge

A few days later, Joanna’s time on the Enterprise had come to an end. When Bones finally managed to get her to leave the ship (after hours of arguing and stubbornly insisting that _yes_ , she did have to finish her last eight years of school and _no,_ she couldn’t just skip the boring parts and become a Starfleet officer right now), her departure was accented with tears and general unhappiness.

“Scotty, for the love of God, will you _grow up_?!” Bones said gruffly as the older man hugged Joanna goodbye, “You’re crying more than Joanna! And she’s _eight_!” Scotty stood up, wiping the tears from his face whilst glaring at the doctor.

“I can come again, can’t I?” Joanna asked him as he took her hand and led her away, the little girl waving to the crew she was leaving behind as she went.

“I’m sure Jim would love for you to stay again, sweetheart,” he assured her, “Did you enjoy it?” Joanna nodded, grinning madly.

“It was awesome,” she told him, “I can’t _wait_ to tell everyone at school that I’ve travelled on a real starship! No one’s going to believe I’ve actually been into space...”

“I have pictures,” Bones said smiling, “I’ll send them to your mom and you can prove it to everyone at Show and Tell.” Joanna hugged him tightly as they walked.

“Thank you, daddy,” she said, “That was the best birthday _ever_.”

“You’re welcome, princess,” he replied, hugging her back.

“Can I come and stay with you before you go away again?” she asked quietly, her hand holding his as if her life depended on it. Bones nodded.

“You can stay for as long as you want, Jo,” he said. He had very nearly forgotten the insecurities he’d felt just three weeks before, finally feeling that he’d been properly reacquainted with his daughter. Joanna sighed happily, leaning against him as they walked to the hovercar that would take them home.

* * *

Just over a month later, Joanna was in Bones’ apartment, concentrating on her PADD with the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth.

“You know,” Jim made her jump as he suddenly appeared by her ear, “Staring at the screen for ages won’t actually help you learn it faster.” Joanna glared at him.

“Uncle Jim!” she scolded, “You scared me!” Jim flawlessly jumped over the back of the sofa, landing next to her with a grin on his face.

“Sorry, Jo,” he apologised, “What are you reading anyway?”

“An article about working for Starfleet,” she replied, “It’s all wrong.” Jim took the PADD from her, quickly scanning through it and frowning when he was finished.

“It does seem a bit... biased.” He replied, “Who wrote it?”

“The Starfleet recruitment office,” Joanna replied, “We’re learning about careers at school. When my teacher said we’d be learning about the Starfleet recruitment process, I got really excited, but then I read this...” she frowned, “This is _nothing_ like what being on a starship is really like. The guy who wrote it doesn’t _understand_.” Joanna finished with a frustrated huff, crossing her arms angrily. Jim smiled slightly.

“Unfortunately, kiddo,” he sighed, patting her hand, “That’s the way life is sometimes. People who shouldn’t get things often do. Look at me: _I’ve_ got my own starship. I definitely shouldn’t have that, I’m way too immature. Just ask your dad.” Joanna smiled slightly at that.

“Don’t need to,” she muttered, “He says it all the time.” Jim chuckled.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he gave her PADD back, “There’s nothing you can do to change things like this, though. There will always be people doing things they don’t understand.” Joanna looked thoughtful.

“Or...” she was smiling, suddenly, and all at once Jim understood exactly how Joanna was Bones and Jocelyn’s daughter; that smile, right there, was one with Bones’ genius and Jocelyn’s cunning.

And it _wasn’t_ a comforting look.

“Go on,” Jim asked, knowing he was going to regret ever turning up at Bones’ apartment.

“Maybe... _you_ could come to my school? To tell them what it’s really like to work for Starfleet?” Jim’s eyes widened.

“You want me to come to your school?” he asked, “I’m not sure, Jo... maybe your dad would be better-”

“Daddy isn’t the Captain of  Starfleet’s most amazing starship!” Joanna interrupted him, “He’s amazing, he saves lives every day, and he’s the best daddy in the world but... _you_ have the future of the universe in your hands whenever you go to one of those conference thingies. You’re the person who tries to make all of the different planets out there have a better future. And that’s what Starfleet is all about, isn’t it? Making a better future for everyone?”

Jim was shocked beyond belief at Joanna’s words; he had to remind himself (repeatedly, in the space of thirty seconds) that she was _eight-years-old_. She was _way_ too smart. He made a mental note to get Bones to do something about that because, really, it was scaring him.

“Jo, I...” he couldn’t quite find the words he needed to say.

“Please, Uncle Jim!” Joanna begged, “You’d only have to do a little speech and then answer questions! You’re a _genius_ ; you can manage that, right?”

Jim looked from Joanna’s face to the PADD in her hands and sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes, “Fine, fine,” he muttered, “But, just so you know, this is _not_ in my job description.”

* * *

Jim had expected Bones to laugh when he told him about Joanna’s plan. So he was more than a little surprised when his best friend clasped his shoulder thankfully.

“Well, thank god for that,” Bones muttered, “Joanna got me to read through that article last night. Biggest load of waffling crap there’s ever been. Whilst you’re on good terms with the admirals, you should really look into getting whoever wrote it fired.”

Jim gaped at him, “I can’t believe you’re not finding this hilarious,” he muttered, “ _I_ can’t believe I’m even _thinking_ about doing it!”

“Oh, come on, Jim,” Bones smirked slightly, “When have you ever turned down an opportunity to boast about yourself?”

“Okay, I don’t think you understand,” Jim said seriously, “This will be talking to _children_. I can’t just... talk about myself the way I normally do. Even _you_ think that’s inappropriate, and you’re almost as dirty minded as I am.”

“Jim, you’ll be fine,” Bones assured him, placing a glass in front of Jim before pouring a drink for himself, “Joanna will love showing you off. And you’ll be inspiring loads of kids to fight for what’s right in the universe. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Unless I say the wrong thing,” Jim said quietly. Bones sighed.

“Put it like this, kid,” Bones knew that the only way to get through to Jim when he was in this kind of mood was to put it to him as it was; the doctor was _far_ too good at that... “Either you go to the school and do Jo a favour or you’ll have to put up with her glaring at you for half a year and you’ll have to get her one hell of a Christmas present to make it up to her.” Jim sighed.

“I suppose it’s not the end of the world,” he muttered, downing the alcohol in his glass, “Let’s face it; we’ll be off planet for five years soon anyway. Chances are, I won’t even recognise the kids I influence by the time we get back.”

“That’s the spirit,” Bones muttered, smirking slightly.

“Have you told Jo about the five-year mission yet?” Jim had received news about the five-year mission a week previously; he’d immediately called the bridge crew (and McCoy) and ordered them to attend a meeting, without telling any of them what the meeting was about. Nevertheless, they all turned up, and when he’d told them the mission had been offered to the _Enterprise_ they’d all been completely convinced that he was joking.

After a while, however, they realised that Jim was being far too serious to be joking, and reacted... differently, to say the least.

 

_“You mean... you’re not kidding?” Uhura asked, totally caught off-guard by Jim’s seriousness._

_“I’m being completely serious!” Jim said, “Honestly, I’m hurt you’d think I’d joke about something like this!”_

_“Well, the last time you said we’d got the mission... we didn’t have the mission. And_ you _got suspended.” Bones smirked._

_“Thanks for the reminder,” Jim muttered, retaking his seat (he’d stood up indignantly when the group had started questioning him), “The point is, I wanted you guys to know first. It’s a big decision, after all.” Uhura and Spock had shared a look that had immediately caused Jim’s attention._

_“What?” Uhura asked, frowning at the way he was staring at the two of them._

_“That was a look,” he said gleefully, “Why are you guys having looks? Do you have big news?”_

_“No, we do not,” Uhura said quickly. Jim frowned disbelievingly._

_“Spock, do you guys have news?” he asked. Uhura groaned as Jim chuckled, “Vulcan’s can’t lie, let’s just remember that.”_

_“Nyota and I do have ‘news’, Captain,” Spock replied, “Though I feel it to be premature to announce it at this point.”_

_Jim pouted, “Spoil sport,” he muttered, “Anyway. Like I said, this is a big decision to make. I want you guys to have as much time as possible to think about it,” he stood up, smirking slightly, “We leave in eight weeks.” The group around the table gaped at him._

_“Eight veeks, sir?” Chekov asked, shocked, “Is that not too soon?”_

_“Not in the slightest,” Jim replied, “The ship’s on top form. In fact, she’s never been better. We’ve been on cargo runs for weeks now; don’t tell me you guys aren’t itching for a bit of excitement.” Glancing at Sulu’s grimace, Bones’ eye roll and Scotty’s smirk, in addition to not missing Uhura’s irritable sigh, Jim assumed that he’d been spot on._

_“Right then,” he said, “Meeting adjourned. Let me know what you decide.”_

 

Thinking of the daunting task of breaking the news to his daughter, McCoy shook his head. “I don’t know how,” he replied, “She barely gets to see me as it is. A weekend every so often, a couple of days in the holidays... what is she going to do whilst we’re gone? Who’s going to look after her when Jocelyn has to leave for work at the last minute?” He left the most important question unsaid: _what will we miss in her life whilst we’re gone?_

Jim felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards his best friend then; because Bones wasn’t talking about their situation as if he was deciding between leaving Earth and staying with his little girl. Bones was talking about the situation in a way that said he was going on that mission no matter what. And, though he could only just admit it to himself, Jim knew that he’d last all of two seconds without Bones on the Enterprise at his side.

“She’ll understand,” Jim said quietly.

“Will she?” Bones asked, not truly wanting to know the answer. Jim remained silent; he wasn’t sure he wanted to know either.

* * *

Jim wasn’t sure where the fear had come from. Maybe it was from his messed up childhood. Maybe it was because of Tarsus. Maybe it was just because he spent more time around adults than he had ever spent with children.

But kids terrified him. He’d thought meeting Joanna was scary, but he could assure himself now that it was _nothing_ compared to standing up and facing a class full of eight-year-olds.

He stood at the front of the class, his ‘Captain smile’ on his face, as Joanna coughed to get the class’ attention.

“Ahem,” she waited for everyone to fall silent before continuing, “Right. As you all know, we were given a Starfleet article to read over last weekend. Well, I read that article when I was at my dad’s house in San Francisco, and it was completely wrong. So, I asked my Uncle Jim to come in and tell you what Starfleet _really_ does.”

Joanna glanced back at him, smiling. Jim winked at her before taking centre stage; room full of kids. Right. How bad could it be?

“So,” he started awkwardly, “I guess I should probably introduce myself properly. I’m Captain Jim Kirk of the starship _Enterprise_. I-” he stopped as a girl near the back of the room put her hand up, “Er, yes? You have a question?”

“How old are you?” Jim wondered if the girl was just asking a random question, and so saw no harm in answering it.

“I’m twenty seven, as of last month,” he told her.

“And you’re already a captain?” she asked, her eyes wide, “Isn’t that really young?” Jim smiled slightly.

“I’m the youngest Starfleet captain there’s ever been,” he told her, “So yeah, I’d say it was pretty young.”

“Have you ever saved the world?” a boy nearer the front asked.

“A few times,” Jim said, rolling his eyes as he heard Joanna mutter ‘more than that’ from her seat at the very front, “That’s not all Starfleet’s about though.”

He started to explain the details of his job; how he travelled the universe, inviting civilisations to join the Federation. It was difficult to get into any stories properly because of the constant flow of questions thrown at him, but the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jim even saw one kid taking notes in the corner, and made a point to ask him why at some point; it didn’t hurt to show a bit of interest.

“Have you ever killed anyone?” the question came as a shock to Jim; he hadn’t expected an eight year old to ask that kind of question. That was a question he often got from new recruits at the academy.

Jim sighed as the class quietened down, all of the waiting for an answer, “Only the bad guys.” He replied, “But, in all honesty, that doesn’t make it any better. Killing people is wrong, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. I don’t like doing it. No one I know, nor anyone I work with, like doing it. We avoid it wherever possible.”

The class was quiet as another girl tentatively put her hand up, “Has anyone ever tried to kill _you_?”

“They tried,” Jim smirked, “I guess I’m just lucky. And I’ve got Joanna’s dad to patch me up whenever I get hurt.” Joanna laughed quietly and Jim smiled at her, accepting her thumbs up with a wider smile. “Any more questions?” he asked, “I think we’ve got time for a couple more.”

In the corner, the note-taking boy’s hand shot up. Jim gestured for him to ask his question, “How do you make sure that your crew gets out of a fight alive?”

Jim was beginning to think that he’d underestimated eight year olds; they seemed pretty damn smart for a bunch of kids, “I don’t believe in no-win scenarios,” Jim shrugged, “There’s always a way out. I’ve got the best crew there is; they’re all the very best at what they do. I’d be lost without them... literally. My navigator is a key member of the team.” The class laughed as Jim grinned, wondering what, exactly he’d been scared about.

Joanna’s teacher came to the front of the class from where she’d been standing at the back, thanking Jim for coming and asking if he’d say goodbye to everyone at the door as the bell rang for lunch.

Jim happily agreed, offering hi-fives to anyone who passed him. The boy taking notes was at the back of the line, and Jim smiled slightly when he spotted him.

“Hey, Jo?” Jim crouched slightly so that he could talk to Joanna quietly, “Who’s the kid at the back of the line? Is he a friend of yours?” Joanna shrugged.

“He doesn’t really get on with people,” she replied, equally as quiet, “He prefers to be left alone a lot of the time. He reads a lot though. I like that.” Jim smiled.

“What’s his name?” he asked.

“Dylan,” she replied, the boy in question reaching the front of the line just as she said his name. He looked up from the book in his hands to respond.

“Oh,” he said quietly, “Hello.”

“Hey,” Jim grinned, “I saw you taking notes. Do you want to be a Starfleet officer one day?” the boy shrugged.

“Maybe,” he said, “I’d like to be.” Jim nodded.

“Well, try talking to Jo,” he said, nudging the girl forward. She sent a subtle glare at him before smiling shyly at the boy in front of her, “She spent a week on the _Enterprise_ with me and her dad. I’m sure she can tell you anything you’d want to know.” Dylan and Joanna both smiled slightly.

“I’d like that,” he told her. Joanna nodded.

“Maybe you could come to my house one day?” Joanna suggested, beginning to walk towards the canteen, Dylan walking beside her, “My mom makes really good chicken. You’re not a vegetarian are you?”

Jim smiled proudly as the two walked off, Joanna chattering away, Dylan happy to just stand and listen. Just before the end of the corridor, they stopped, Joanna saying something before running back towards Jim. He stooped slightly to pick her up as she threw her arms around his neck.

“Thanks, Uncle Jim,” she said quietly, smiling as he hugged her tightly, “You were awesome.”

“Any time, Jojo,” he assured her, placing her back on the floor, “Now get back to your boyfriend.” He teased. Joanna glared.

“He is _not_ my boyfriend,” she told him, “Boys are _icky_.” Jim smirked, wondering how long it would take for her to change her mind.

“Whatever you say, Jo,” he said, “I’ll see you soon, alright?” Joanna nodded, running back down the corridor to her new friend, hooking her arm through his as they went to lunch. Jim smiled; perhaps Joanna could hold onto her innocence for a _little_ bit longer.

 


End file.
